A day before the World Trade Organization (
Commerce and Industry Minister
In July this year, India had said that it wouldn’t ratify a trade facilitation agreement if its concern on the issue of food security is not addressed. It had asked WTO to amend the norms for calculating agriculture subsidy so that it can continue to purchase food grain from farmers at minimum support price and sell these to the poor at cheaper rates.
WTO norms limit the value of food subsidies at 10% of the value of overall food grain production. India is demanding a change in the base year (1986-88) for calculating food subsidies.